Senator Milne believes the path to carbon neutrality is not a "tale of woe, laden with costs, lost jobs and heartache" but an opportunity to address what Australians "don't like about the way we live".

The Greens support an emissions trading scheme, but believe it's just one part of the climate policy mosaic and emphasise the importance of a strict cap on polluters.

The party also wants to abandon coal seam gas projects, which were a major growth focus of the Abbott government's white paper for Australia's energy future.

Senator Milne again called for the retention of the 41,000 gigawatt hours renewable energy target, a previously bipartisan 2020 goal now in limbo amid a political impasse over its reduction.

The government will announce post-2020 targets in June ahead of the December UN summit and is watching trading partners to determine its fair share.

Senator Milne accuses the Australian government of protecting the interests of "vested corporates" making billions from spewing CO2 into the atmosphere.

Mr Hunt remains confident Australia can achieve its five per cent emissions reduction target by 2020 using its direct action policy, which pays polluters not to pollute.